National Genetics Reference Laboratory Manchester, UK

Host Society: HGSA

Andrew Devereau completed an MSc in Computer Scientist from the University of Manchester, UK, in 2002 after working at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich.  He joined the newly-founded National Genetics Reference Laboratory (NGRL) at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, to work on Informatic and Bioinformatic projects to support the genetic testing laboratory and clinical genetic network in the UK.  Projects have included the Diagnostic Mutation Database (DMuDB), a confidential database of genetic variants reported by UK laboratories, the Universal Browser, a graphical interface for variant databases, and SNPCheck, a pipeline tool for SNP masking PCR primers.  He became the Head of Informatics in 2005 and was appointed Director of NGRL Manchester in 2008.  Alongside the projects mentioned above, NGRL delivers bioinformatic and quality management training courses for UK laboratories, had developed a technology assessment forum, is collaborating to develop data standards for genetic laboratories and clinics, and is a partner in projects to develop non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (RAPID), rare disease coding (Rare Disease Task Force), variation database unification (Gen2Phen) and harmonisation of testing (EuroGentest).